Sales compensation benchmarking is an excellent way for leaders to see whether their sales team’s pay is fair, competitive and aligned with company goals. When done right, it motivates reps to sell the right products, helping the business hit revenue targets.
Many companies turn to consulting firms for this task because they have the market data to run careful analyses and know how to translate those numbers into practical pay plans. However, leaders must ensure they are working with the right people to make the right decisions moving forward.
Top Consulting Firms Requirements
When comparing firms, the goal was to look for consultants with strong track records and clear benchmarking methods. The following criteria were considered:
- Reliable data: Size, freshness and whether the firm uses proprietary datasets
- Industry experience: Depth of work across relevant sectors and years of practice in sales compensation
- Method and rigor: Clarity of process for collecting data, analyzing results and turning findings into pay plans
- Tools and technology: Available dashboards that make benchmarking actionable
- Customization: Ability to tailor studies by company size, territory model and role types
- Client outcomes: Evidence of measurable results, such as reduced turnover or improved alignment
- Global reach: Support for local, regional and multinational benchmarking when needed
The Top Consulting Firms for Sales Compensation Benchmarking
The following firms are leaders in sales compensation benchmarking and are known for their data, tools and industry expertise.
1. Alexander Group
Alexander Group is a specialist consulting firm that drives profitable revenue growth through better go-to-market (GTM) strategies. The firm draws on more than 40 years of research and work with revenue organizations. Such experience has helped its team bring value to compensation design and benchmarking.
Alexander Group is a strong choice when handling benchmarking as part of a larger revenue system. The firm’s strategies are supported by thorough data analysis, so its advice comes straight from facts. However, the consultant team provides more than guidance — it ensures clients receive actionable recommendations they can measure for success.
The firm uses a diagnostic-first approach and assesses current pay, sales roles and performance gaps before recommending changes. Using proprietary frameworks and large benchmarking datasets, it designs role-specific compensation plans that motivate the right behaviors and improve quota attainment. The company also supports rollout and enablement so changes stick and leaders can measure real results.
What it does well:
- Comprehensive benchmarking strategy: The team runs a full sales compensation capability that includes custom market studies, governance and job architecture, pay-level benchmarking, and plan assessment and design. Its proven methodology takes a structured approach to align incentives to revenue goals.
- Rigorous analysis: Alexander Group pairs compensation work with coverage models, quotas, territory design and sales productivity. This service ensures that benchmarking is connected to how a sales organization operates.
- Deep research and presentable opportunities: The firm publishes studies and runs a research and benchmarking program that clients can join to access industry-specific benchmarks and trend reports.
2. Korn Ferry
Korn Ferry is a global consulting firm that helps companies align pay and incentives with business strategy. The firm produces clear, actionable plans that motivate sellers and support long-term talent goals. It also combines consulting with data and product tools to make compensation decisions simple and measurable.
Korn Ferry’s approach starts with carefully assessing existing plans and communications. It then moves to design and benchmarking that involve role definitions, target pay levels, measures and weights, mechanics and quota-setting. Its consultants test plans for differentiation and attainability so leaders can implement fair and effective pay programs.
The firm also maintains a large sales compensation database for competitor benchmarking. The archive includes over 10,000 plans and 270,000 payout records from organizations worldwide. This depth of data lets Korn Ferry benchmark pay levels and set realistic quotas tied to market practice.
What it does well:
- Plan mechanics and validation: The company tests and refines critical areas, such as mix, measures, quota setting and upside. This strategy ensures that incentives are simple for sellers to understand and predictable for finance.
- Assessment and diagnostic insights: Korn Ferry reviews current compensation programs thoroughly to prioritize changes that will move the business needle.
- Implementation and total-rewards alignment: The team supports rollout and change management and aligns sales compensation so pay programs fit companywide goals.
3. Mercer
Mercer is a human-capital consultancy committed to market data and total rewards. The firm publishes employer-reported salary surveys and marketplaces covering thousands of jobs and employee records. Such a large database makes setting pay levels and understanding market practice straightforward.
Mercer makes its data useful by offering tools for compensation planning and employee listening. By streamlining insight gathering, clients can find benchmarks and test how pay changes may affect retention and budgets. The company’s products include searchable survey tools and the Mercer Benchmark Database. These resources help HR and rewards teams run planning cycles with up-to-date market inputs.
Mercer also supports global planning and local market execution. This offering is especially helpful when companies operate in different countries or must navigate complex pay rules across jurisdictions. Its research and publications also provide timely guidance on pay trends and compensation policy, so leaders can use that during planning and governance cycles.
What it does well:
- Market-leading survey data: Mercer produces wide-ranging salary surveys that give organizations several market references for pay decisions.
- Compensation planning tools: It offers searchable survey tools and planning platforms that make building budgets and model pay scenarios easier.
- Global planning and local insight: Mercer helps companies translate international pay strategy into local action by pairing global data with country-level guidance.
4. ZS
ZS builds sales compensation programs with a heavy focus on analytics, technology and easy execution. It pairs plan design with software and operations so benchmarking feeds directly into incentive calculation, quota management and administration.
ZS implements a customized, data-first approach. It assesses gaps in current plans and designs incentive structures that match role and market differences. It then supports rollout with transparent communication and administration.
The firm also offers software solutions and measurement tools. Companies can use these resources to automate calculations and track performance records. In addition to the tech offerings, ZS helps by bringing behavioral science into compensation through motivational measures. This work shows how analytics, planning and operations improve sales productivity.
What it does well:
- Assessment and plan design: ZS analyzes existing programs, finds gaps and builds incentive plans tailored to a business’s needs and culture.
- Technology and operation: ZS invests in artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics so benchmarking becomes operational.
- Motivation measurement and data: It measures a salesforce’s motivation to link incentives to behavior and productivity.
5. Wills Towers Watson
Wills Towers Watson (WTW) is a global rewards and human-capital consultancy that combines large-scale market data with strategic advice. WTW places great importance on governance and regulatory readiness, so boards and compensation committees design defensible pay programs. It publishes benchmarking surveys and data products, supporting executive and sales compensation decisions.
The consultant agency ensures it offers tailored guidance using analytics. Based on the insights it gathers, the team can touch on emerging issues such as pay equity, ESG-linked salaries and disclosure requirements. This framework becomes valuable when compensation programs must meet stakeholder scrutiny while motivating performance.
What it does well:
- Governance and compliance: WTW helps compensation committees manage regulatory expectations and disclosure needs. This model ensures plans mitigate risk and appeal to investors and advisers.
- Market data and analytics: The consultant team provides broad benchmarking surveys and data tools that give HR and rewards teams the inputs needed for pay decisions and reporting.
- Executive- and board-level advisory: WTW connects pay design to shareholder expectations and long-term strategy, which is useful when compensation programs must balance motivation with accountability.
6. Deloitte
Deloitte is a global professional-services firm that treats sales compensation as part of a company’s larger strategy. Its rewards teams help clients define and optimize pay, benefits and incentive programs so compensation supports business goals.
Deloitte integrates market and survey results with workforce analytics and planning tools. This practice helps leaders model the budget impact of pay changes and test different incentive scenarios. The firm also considers rewards and how incentives interact with job setup and workforce strategy.
Because Deloitte works across risk, tax, reward and HR, it is often the most helpful when compensation design needs to address governance, regulations and compliance. Its guidance covers incentive governance and risk reviews for sensitive sectors and supports complex transitions like mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
What it does well:
- Total-rewards integration: Deloitte links sales compensation to the workforce strategy, so pay changes consider benefits and long-term planning.
- Modeling and analytics: It provides tools to model pay scenarios and run what-if tests that make benchmarking actionable for finance and HR.
- Governance and compliance: Deloitte’s incentive program designs meet regulatory and governance expectations, making it useful for public companies and regulated industries.
7. Alvarez & Marsal
Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) is a fact-driven, hands-on consulting firm known for turnaround, restructuring and corporate performance work. The company takes action by digging into operations and finances and asking tough questions to fix problems quickly.
A&M’s strength is helping organizations with high stakes, such as restructurings or M&A’s. In those situations, compensation and incentives must often be rethought to match new financial targets or drive faster operational change. A&M’s consultants link pay and incentive fixes to the larger economic and operational plan so rewards support the business outcomes.
The firm works across many industries and geographies and frequently partners with private equities, corporate leadership teams and boards that want fast, measurable results. That mix of execution means A&M excels in compensation work that must align with accounting and legal constraints. It also ensures plans are audit-ready or closely aligned with short-term value creation.
What it does well:
- Turnaround-focused compensation fixes: A&M quickly identifies incentive misalignments and recommends pay changes that support urgent financial and operational goals.
- Integration with finance and operations: It ties compensation design to accounting, tax and performance metrics so pay programs are implementable.
- Rapid, hands-on execution: The firm pairs diagnostic work with on-the-ground implementation so recommended changes are rolled out and tracked for immediate impact.
8. Bain & Co.
Bain & Co. is a global strategy consulting firm that offers sales compensation as part of a broader GTM system. Bain delivers a focused diagnostic called the Sales Compensation Booster. It spotlights the highest-impact fixes fast and helps teams accelerate planning and change.
Bain links compensation work to its Sales Play System and wider GTM programs so incentives support the plays and behaviors that leaders want to scale. This makes benchmarking and plan design simple. The firm uses outside-in benchmarks, modeling and play-based thinking to align pay with repeatable sales motions.
Bain publishes client examples and briefs that show measurable impact from compensation and GTM changes, including reductions in cost of sales and uplifts in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for targeted engagements.
What it does well:
- Rapid diagnostics and prioritization: Bain’s Sales Compensation Booster reveals the top opportunities quickly so teams can focus on fixes that keep them moving forward.
- GTM and play alignment: It designs compensation plans that map to the Sales Play System so incentives reward the exact behaviors needed for repeatable, scalable growth.
- Measurable, outcomes-focused design: Bain pairs plan design with modeling and client casework to show expected cost, quota and productivity impacts rather than only recommendations.
How to Choose the Right Consulting Partner
It matters which consulting firm leaders choose because the right one can solve their sales compensation problems. The following offers an excellent way to compare proposals.
Define the Problem and Success Metrics
Spell out what the company needs the consultant to fix. List the hard metrics most important for judging success and seeing change. Clear goals stop scope creep and make comparing proposals on equal terms easy.
Prioritize Industry Fit and Scale
Choose firms with proven experience in the industry and size of the company — their benchmarks and plan designs will be more relevant and faster to apply. Look for short case examples or outcomes that match the scale and business model. Industry fit often shortens the time to impact because the firm already understands typical quotas and pay norms.
Require a Diagnostic-First Methodology
The firm should start with a diagnostic of current-pay review, role mapping, performance-gap analysis and data sources. Ask for a clear description of steps, sample deliverables and what data it will use to see how it reaches recommendations. This lowers the risk of one-size-fits-all fixes and helps in judging whether the approach is rigorous.
Insist on Tools, Implementation and Measurable Outcomes
Make sure the engagement includes modeling and tools, plus phased rollout support. Request measurable outcomes upfront and learn what the firm expects to change and how it will measure. Firms that only advise can leave a client with plans that collect dust.
Validate Governance and Scope
Confirm consulting firms understand the company’s type of governance, disclosure, tax and compliance needs. Get a clear scope, timeline, milestones and total cost, including subscription fees for benchmarking versus one-off studies.
Choose a Partner That Keeps Your Business Going
Picking the right consultancy for sales compensation benchmarking involves strategy. Focus on one that can provide measurable results and weigh each firm’s strengths against the company’s specific goals. When taking the right steps, clients can understand which partner will deliver the right outcomes for long-term success.
